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  • #1

    Atlas Roundhouse project

    I was recently given an Atlas Roundhouse to build for another modeller and yesterday I started to build it.

    It's a pretty easy kit and I don't think it's construction could be considered 'Craftsman' so I thought I'd post it's build here.
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  • #2
    First the unboxing:






    As big as it is, it's a pretty basic kit. looking over the instructions (one page, double sided) Almost everything is tab-and-slot assembly. If I didn't plan on painting it, I could probably build it in a couple hours. I did find one thing that surprised me though, the window glass is in a small plastic bag and appears to be laser or die cut from so thin clear styrene.




    Seeing as I am going to paint all the brick on the structure, I thought it best to assemble all the brick walls beforehand. The base extends past the front wall because it's designed to interlock with the atlas turntable. I have an atlas turntable on my layout but I have a Helgan roundhouse instead of this one.



    The kit also comes with a brick office that will attach to the roundhouse in a location of your choice.



    The whole assembly to this point took about an hour, using Plastruct Plastic weld liquid cement. Today I primed all the assemblies with a gray primer and now I'm just waiting for the primer to dry and cure before painting the brick.


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    • #3
      Glen,

      Just priming the walls is a big improvement by getting rid of the plastic look.

      Mike
      _________________________________________________

      Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin

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      • #4
        Thanks Mike, I'll be adding the brick color in the next few days when the primer fully cures.

        In the meantime I've been spraying primer on all the doors, windows and trim.



        I was surprised with the amount of overlays and trim parts in the kit. As I have to cut them loose from the sprues to paint them, I needed to label the part numbers for future reference. I'm about halfway through spraying all the smaller parts now.

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        • #5
          Ditto on the paint. Art Curren used to recommend spraying the walls, etc. with Dullcote to kill the shine if the modeler wasn't going to paint the walls. How many plastic kits could be elevated to something more by doing this simple step?

          Galen
          My Train Blog: http://ocalicreek.blogspot.com/

          Comment

          • #6
            Exactly Galen. Everything on my layout get's painted and usually weathered to some extent before I place it.

            I did the basic brickwork on the structure:





            I dry brushed Americana's Heritage Brick followed by Delta Ceramcoat's Brown Iron Oxide. I may do an overspray later using my airbrush but I want to see what the completed structure looks like before I do that



            The brick office and window blank were finished in the same way.



            I also airbrushed the windows and doors. I initially was going to paint then in Badger's BNSF green but I found that too dark so I went with Tru-line's Canadian National green.



            I then painted all the concrete parts on Polly-s Concrete.

            Now I can start assembling again.

            Comment

            • #7
              You’re getting some concrete results and it all looks good.

              Mike
              _________________________________________________

              Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin

              Comment

              • #8
                Thanks Mike.

                I added the windows today



                The windows and doors are a pretty tight fit, especially when they have a layer or two of paint. I sanded the edges of the windows and doors down slightly and pressed them into the frames. Because they turned out to be a friction fit, I didn't need to glue them in. The glass also didn't need glue as the windows are holding them as well.



                I've pretty much completed the office addition with the windows, doors and lintels added. It just needs it's roof and steps.

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                • #9
                  Looking good Glen.
                  Frank

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                  • #10
                    :up:
                    Carl

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                    • #11
                      Thank you Carl and Frank.

                      I finished up the roundhouse over the past couple days.



                      I added all the concrete overlays and the window lintels. Everything fit fairly well with just some minimal sanding around the edges.







                      I then added the front doors and started on the roof. The doors do operate but I wouldn't recommend constantly opening and closing them as the top trim is what hold them in is rather thin and fragile.

                      The Small roof parts and skylights went in very easily, again all tab an slot construction.




                      I gave the brickwork and concrete a light overspray of grimy black with my airbrush. I'm leaving the three main roof parts off for now since the track has to be wired in through holes in the floor and my friend may want to add lights.

                      I also added the handrails to the steps and the roof access ladders.



                      And some final photos.

                      The roof is sitting loosely on the structure. I painted in black with grimy black airbrush overtop.



                      The office add-on is also not attached in case lighting is to be added later. I did add some styrene angle to the inside walls so there is a bit more surface area to glue onto.


                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Looks real.
                        _________________________________________________

                        Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Glen,

                          It looks very good! If it's not too late, the inside walls were painted white to reflect as much light as possible into the work areas. Of course they were repainted fairly often.

                          Jim
                          Take the red pill

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